Statement by Human Rights Solidarity & the Multicultural Youth Council – International before the Human Rights Council 37th Regular Session, Geneva

Mr. President, we at the Multicultural Youth Council – International (COJEP) and Human Rights Solidarity Organization (HRS) welcome the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Libya, support the report’s recommendations, and call on your Distinguished Council to support the recommendations, especially the call to provide the International Criminal Court with the resources necessary to investigate, prosecute and try the alleged crimes under its jurisdiction that may have been perpetrated in Libya since 2011. Mr. President, the armed militias of retired Major General Haftar continue to impose a suffocating criminal siege on the city of Derna, which has about 100.000 inhabitants. Supplies of drinking water, food, fuel, and medical supplies have almost been exhausted in the city. We call on the Council to demand immediate lifting of the siege. Mr. President, armed groups, working for the Internationally Recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) & the militias of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) recognized by the House of Representatives (HoR), continue to commit wide spread and grave violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, without any accountability.

Mr. President, we have documented more than 738 incidents of hostilities, which resulted in some 3,700 victims, of whom 1,600 were killed. Civilian casualties amounted to 560 among the wounded and dead, 60 of them were children. Most of these hostilities are the result of direct intervention by some regional and European states in ongoing armed conflicts.

Mr. President, the situation of irregular migrants in Libya is of great concern to us for the grave violations they suffer, both inside and outside detention center. We call upon your Council to intensify efforts to improve the situation of migrants, especially women and unaccompanied children.